Below
is a complete filmography (list of movies he's appeared in) for
James Garner. If you have any corrections or additions, please email
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Biography

The son of an Oklahoma carpet layer, James Garner did stints in the Army and merchant marines before working as a model. His professional acting career began with a non-speaking part in the Broadway play The Caine Mutiny Court Martial (1954), in which he was also assigned to run lines with stars Lloyd Nolan, Henry Fonda, and John Hodiak. Given that talent roster, and the fact that the director was Charles Laughton, Garner managed to earn his salary and receive a crash course in acting at the same time. After a few television commercials, he was signed as a contract player by Warner Bros. in 1956. He barely had a part in his first film, The Girl He Left Behind (1956), though he was given special attention by director David Butler, who felt Garner had far more potential than the film's nominal star, Tab Hunter. Due in part to Butler's enthusiasm, Garner was cast in the Warner Bros. TV Western Maverick. The scriptwriters latched on to his gift for understated humor, and, before long, the show had as many laughs as shoot-outs. Garner was promoted to starring film roles during his Maverick run, but, by the third season, he chafed at his low salary and insisted on better treatment. The studio refused, so he walked out. Lawsuits and recriminations were exchanged, but the end result was that Garner was a free agent as of 1960. He did quite well as a freelance actor for several years, turning in commendable work in such films as Boys' Night Out (1962) and The Great Escape (1963), but was soon perceived by filmmakers as something of a less-expensive Rock Hudson, never more so than when he played Hudson-type parts opposite Doris Day in Move Over, Darling and The Thrill of It All! (both 1963).Garner fared rather better in variations of his Maverick persona in such Westerns as Support Your Local Sheriff (1969) and The Skin Game (1971), but he eventually tired of eating warmed-over stew; besides, being a cowboy star had made him a walking mass of injuries and broken bones. He tried to play a more peaceable Westerner in the TV series Nichols (1971), but when audiences failed to respond, his character was killed off and replaced by his more athletic twin brother (also Garner). The actor finally shed the Maverick cloak with his long-running TV series The Rockford Files (1974-1978), in which he played a John McDonald-esque private eye who never seemed to meet anyone capable of telling the truth. Rockford resulted in even more injuries for the increasingly battered actor, and soon he was showing up on TV talk shows telling the world about the many physical activities which he could no longer perform. Rockford ended in a spirit of recrimination, when Garner, expecting a percentage of the profits, learned that "creative bookkeeping" had resulted in the series posting none. To the public, Garner was the rough-hewn but basically affable fellow they'd seen in his fictional roles and as Mariette Hartley's partner (not husband) in a series of Polaroid commercials. However, his later film and TV-movie roles had a dark edge to them, notably his likable but mercurial pharmacist in Murphy's Romance (1985), for which he received an Oscar nomination, and his multifaceted co-starring stints with James Woods in the TV movies Promise (1986) and My Name Is Bill W. (1989). In 1994, Garner came full circle in the profitable feature film Maverick (1994), in which the title role was played by Mel Gibson. With the exception of such lower-key efforts as the noir-ish Twilight (1998) and the made-for-TV thriller Dead Silence (1997), Garner's career in the '90s found the veteran actor once again tapping into his latent ability to provoke laughs in such efforts as Space Cowboys (2000) while maintaining a successful small-screen career by returning to the role of Jim Rockford in several made-for-TV movies. Providing a voice for the popular animated feature Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), as well as appearing in the comedy-drama The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), ensured that, despite his age, Garner would continue to seek out film roles and maintain a place in the public eye.

According to an article on TV westerns in Time Magazine (March 30, 1959), Garner stood 6' 3", weighed 206 lbs, and had chest-waist-hips measurements of 44-33-40

He has 2 brothers, Jack Garner & Charlie Baumgarner

Brother of Jack Garner

Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1990.

Early in his career, he appeared as one of the judges in "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" on Broadway. He said his part consisted mostly of listening to the other actors and he said it was a great lesson. He feels listening is just as important as speaking as an actor.

Before he was an actor, he did everything from work at a gas station to model men's clothing.

Father of Greta (Gigi) Garner-Hewitt, author of "The Cop Cookbook: Arresting Recipes from the World's Favorite Cops, Good Guys, and Private Eyes"

He & his wife married just 14 days after meeting.

Father of Kim

Lost his mother when he was 5 and his two brothers were sent off to live with relatives.

Had learned a lot from the late John Ritter, when watching "Three's Company" (1977), and even appeared with the "8 Simple Rules" cast about the popular deceased comedian on "Larry King Live" (1985), on the future of "8 Simple Rules."

Is involved with many humanitarian causes.

Is a member of the National Support Committee of the Native American Rights Fund and the National Advisory Board of the United States High School Golf Association.

Is a volunteer of Save The Children.

Is an avid golfer.

Inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1986.

Was hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer in 1979.

He was very disappointed about his show, "The Rockford Files" (1974), being cancelled due to his illness. He accepted his doctor's advice and learned that season 6 was his last.

Had helped organize Martin Luther King's march on Washington for Civil Rights, four years before going to Vietnam. (1963)

Was the first actor to co-star with Julie Andrews, in 3 movies, The Americanization of Emily (1964), Victor/Victoria (1982), and One Special Night (1999) (TV).

In his full glory, James stood 6' 3", but due to lower back and knee problems, he could no longer stretch out taller than 5' 11" by the time he was 70.

Is a Korean War veteran and began his career as a contract player in 1956 for Warner Bros.

He was attending Hollywood High in Los Angeles when his gym teacher recommended him for a job modeling Jantzen bathing suits. He got the job making an hour.

Has played two different characters named Jim who served in the Korean War: Jim Rockford in "The Rockford Files" (1974) and Jim Egan in "8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter" (2002).

The Americanization of Emily (1964) is his favourite film of his own.

Enjoyed great celebrity with his Poloroid commercial series with Mariette Hartley starting in 1977. He and Mariette were so naturally convincing as husband and wife that Mariette had a tee-shirt made that proclaimed, "I am not James Garner's wife!" More than 300 commercials were produced.

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